Friday, March 25, 2016

March 8, 2016 - Grand Isle, LA to Houma, LA

The weather was beautiful, but very windy, so strong that it can knock socks off of you!

While still camping at Grand Isle State Park Edith called Annie Miller’s Son’s Swamp Tour at 7:15 am to check about the 1 pm swamp tour near Houma, LA. The guy advised her to call back at 11:30 am to see if the good weather holds up or not.

After breakfast we put stuff away, filled up the fresh water tank because where we will be staying at tonight and tomorrow there will be no hookups.

Edith went in the Jeep to go to the town to take pictures of the signs on beach cottages while Erwin was at the dump station. Then we meet at Wakeside Marina near the bridge, hooked up the Jeep and we left the isle at 9:30 am.

Click on each picture for full resolution

It started to get a bit hazy in the distance. The clouds started to build up, so it might rain later on in the day. The sun brightened and dimmed several times.

We got on LA 308 from LA 1 to go through Golden Meadows and Galliano, LA for photo op. There is the beautiful white cemetery on the other side of the canal that we visited in the summer of 2013, but we did not want to take a chance of crossing the bridge to the other side of the canal with our Lil' Home (LH). We took a left turn Tarpon Pass to get on LA 3235 near Cut Off, LA then make a left turn to LA 24 for Houma, LA.

Drawbridge over the canal

Cemetery in Galliano, LA

The clouds started to darken a bit, sprinkled briefly. Edith planned to call Annie Miller’s Son's Swamp Tour after we settled down at Houma Walmart.

We arrived Walmart at 11:20 am, and Edith made a call to Jimmy at Annie Miller’s Son’s Swamp Tour via Videophone to find out if the 1 pm swamp tour was still on or not. “It is still on. Come on over”, Jimmy replied. After a quick lunch we went in the Jeep to Bayou Delight restaurant where the swamp boat is docked.

The parking lot at Bayou Delight was almost packed. We looked at each other and thought the foods have to be that good. As we were walking toward the restaurant door a guy opened the door, took a look at us, then said “You are here for the swamp tour?”. Erwin replied that we were and Jimmy pointed to my camera. A giveaway!

Bayou Delight Restaurant

It was past 1 pm before the tour started because Jimmy had to wait for 3 more people who were running late. There were 13 passengers with two little ones.

The tour lasted for 2 hours. Not much wildlife to see, but we saw an eagle, two eagle nests, Great Blue Heron, Great Egret, cormorants, alligators. In one place there were two 5-6 foot alligators named Louie Louie and Lollipop. They did not scatter off when the boat got close to them. They knew they were going to be fed, were already familiar with the sound of Jimmy’s boat engine, etc.

A young couple from France, who was sittingnext to Edith, was holding their hands during the tour

Jimmy, Annie Miller's sonThe Swamp Tour guide

We stopped at two cemeteries that were next to churches. After getting back to Walmart June, Erwin's Facebook friend through Pyrography Page, suggested that we “move” to another Walmart on Martin Luther King, Jr Blvd, which is closer to where she and her husband live.

When we drove into the parking lot we noticed “No Overnight Parking” signs posted at entrances. RV Park app showed that an overnight stay here is allowed. However, we saw one semi truck parked at the far end of the parking lot, so we parked not too far from it. The shopping plaza is huge, plenty of parking spaces.

After supper June and her husband Ricky, local Houma residents, came to meet us. June came bearing a gift for us. We gave them a tour of the LH and Erwin showed them his woodburning projects. June is into woodburning, as well.

June & Erwin

June, Erwin & Edith

After June and Ricky left we went to Walmart to look for new coffee machine with 12 cups, but it did not have what we wanted. We tried Bed Bath & Beyond and it did not have it. We tried Kohl's and the one we liked was on display, but they were out of them in stock. Erwin asked the sales lady if we could take the "display" one and she had to check with the manager. Yes, we can have it and they gave us 15% off from the sale price. The winds rocked the LH all night long and we hoped we will be able to sleep through the night. At that time the wind speed was over 20 mph.

About Me

Erwin was born in Minnesota, went to/graduated from Minn Deaf School. Spent 11 years working for General Electric before he decided to become a welder.
Edith was born in Florida. Went to/graduated from FL School for the Deaf. Graduated with B.S. in Home Economics from Gallaudet College (now University).
Worked as a management analyst for Dept of Agriculture, retired after 31 years of service. Moved back to FL in 2004. Sold our house in 2016 to start RVing full-time.